US Foreign Policy In Shambles: Global Crises Worst Since 1970 As Obama Golfs

If one were so inclined, one could imagine that the relentless barrage of domestic scandals plaguing Obama have been orchestrated with a simple reason: to divert attention from the worst US foreign policy in four decades. And sure enough, even a casual glimpse of all the raging international crises, in which the US is currently embroiled, is enough to make one wonder if the next global crisis will be fought not in the capital markets but in the actual battlefield. As the WSJ recounts, "a convergence of security crises is playing out around the globe, from the Palestinian territories and Iraq to Ukraine and the South China Sea, posing a serious challenge to President Barack Obama's foreign policy and reflecting a world in which U.S. global power seems increasingly tenuous. The breadth of global instability now unfolding hasn't been seen since the late 1970s, U.S. security strategists say, when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, revolutionary Islamists took power in Iran, and Southeast Asia was reeling in the wake of the U.S. exit from Vietnam."

In the past month alone, the U.S. has faced twin civil wars in Iraq and Syria, renewed fighting between Israel and the Palestinians, an electoral crisis in Afghanistan and ethnic strife on the edge of Russia, in Ukraine.

Off center stage, but high on the minds of U.S. officials, are growing fears that negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program could collapse this month, and that China is intensifying its territorial claims in East Asia.

Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.), in a CNN interview Sunday, said the world is "in greater turmoil than at any time in my lifetime." Many of the seeds of instability in the Middle East have taken root since the upheaval that followed the Sept. 11 terror attacks. At the same time, post-Cold War shifts are continuing as superpower influence has receded.

The developments have fueled debate over the Obama foreign-policy doctrine, which the president said in a May speech at West Point would rely on U.S. leadership, but not troop deployments.

Some more pointing out the obvious:

The president's critics in Washington, as well as some diplomats abroad, believe Mr. Obama's policies have fueled today's conflicts. They cite his decision to pull back from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, his rejection of a more decisive U.S. and allied role in the Syrian civil war, and what they see as his reluctance to provide greater support to American allies in Asia and Europe as they face down the newly aggressive foreign polices of China, Iran and President Vladimir Putin's Russia.

"I think our country acting like such a paper tiger to the world on this and so many other fronts is doing incredible long-term damage to our nation," said Sen. Bob Corker (R., Tenn.) at a hearing last week on Ukraine. "And I do hope at some point the administration will actually follow through on the things that it continues to tout publicly."

The chaos has meant that the Obama administration finds itself in the middle of a second term reacting to rather than directing world events. Dangers for the president and for the U.S. are growing as militant groups gain greater control. The organization known as the Islamic State, which now holds parts of Iraq and Syria, poses a particular danger.

"If they are able to consolidate their gains in that area, I think it's just a matter of time before they start looking outward and start looking at the West and at the United States in particular," Attorney General Eric Holder said Sunday in an ABC News interview. "So this is something that we have to get on top of and get on top of now."

Many Middle East leaders also have said Mr. Obama has been too reluctant to use force, which has emboldened terrorist groups and rogue states. They cite the president's failure last year to follow through on a threat to strike Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime after it allegedly used chemical weapons on its political opponents.

Of course, with John Kerry in charge of policy, is anyone surprised? Still, he does report to Obama, and one would assume that despite the president "knowing nothing" about any of the domestic scandals he has faced in the past year, he can find the world on a map...

In some cases, U.S. allies are complicating matters. European countries have balked at imposing tough new sanctions on Russia, according to U.S. officials. And divisions between South Korea and Japan have undermined U.S. efforts to present a united front against China.

Some foreign diplomats believe the Middle East is weathering a historic intra-Islamic feud between its Sunni and Shiite sects that no outside power could significantly affect and that is undermining the very structure of the region's nation states.

...

There is a growing skepticism in Asia about whether the U.S. would abide by its commitment to defend Japan, Taiwan and other Asian countries if their territorial disputes with China escalate into conflict, according to Asian diplomats. Messrs. Obama and Kerry have worked to assure Japan and South Korea that Washington remains wholly committed to its defense treaties. But even some security analysts who are close to the White House say the Obama administration's perceived hesitancy in responding to international threats is unnerving U.S. allies in the region.

"Our allies are looking for a quarterback to call some plays here, and our body language sometimes doesn't show that we're doing that," said Brian Katulis of the left-leaning Center for American Progress. "Obama's always been a look-before-you-leap guy. And I think that leads to some of the confusion here at home, but also abroad."

Although to be honest, not all is a disaster: Obama has shown that when it comes to spying on his closest European ally, he is indeed second to none. The only problem is that said information would have been better used outside the public domain.

So what does Obama do to mitigate the disastrous image he portrays to global leaders everywhere?

I'm seeing more and more photos of that piece of shit flashing the 666 Illuminati hand signs lately. He's 100% initiated now. If his masters told him to nuke an American city he'd fucking do it. And I won't be surprised if it happens before he's done. Full speed ahead now. 2 years to go to complete as much total destruction of America as possible.

Isn't Barry O related to the peanut farmer, Jimmy C? Btw, his plan is to destroy the middle class so when it gets real bad then everyone goes after the rich and then you have the fundamental change the commies want.

It was the Tea Party portion of the right wing who said the Obama Admin should not interfere in Syria, and they were right. It was the Tea Party portion of the right wing who said the Obama Admin should get the hell out of Iraq and Afghanistan and they were right.

What is the prescription of whoever the hell wrote this article, to say he needs to be even more of an imperialistic fuck than he already is?

There's going to be chaos while the world learns that the US is broke and isn't always gonna come to their rescue, but when it stabilizes, it should be a whole lot more stable than it ever was before. US didn't become the richest country in the world by depending on the British Empire, did it? No, it pulled off something almost unprecedented in history, and said "No, we're not going down with the ship, we're building a new system here and now, based around our own freedom", and they had to fight for it, but they won. The rest of the world needs to achieve this same feat, or they will forever be trapped in the cycle of infinite power struggles.

+1 IOW, there will be a painful transition from the fake stability of US intervention to real stability (and yes, the warmonger spin in this article is obvious and annoying). I just hope there aren't too many deaths (that's code for "no nukes please").

Hmmm. Obummer gave money, weapons and training to "rebels" in Syria who then took over parts of Iraq and Syria as ISIS. Now they are considered to be a threat to the US. Could this be Obummer's plan to brainwash the sheeple into thinking the US will be attacked again and take away the last remaining freedoms they have under the guise of Homeland Security?

US Foreign Policy In Shambles: Global Crises Worst Since 1970 As Obama Golfs

It's not just foreign policy. Domestic policy is also in shambles. Domestic resistance to US dot gov is reaching all time highs as well. Why? We are broke, and US dot gov refuses to act like anything has changed in that regard. The middle class is all but destroyed. The people are realizing that the government is in place not to serve them and protect their rights, but instead to oppress and loot them. Globally, nations realize that US economic power is waning and will not return, and that with it US military power is waning. Nations look out for their own interests and pursue better deals, both for defense and trade.

Just 13 short years after 9/11, is it too soon to say "Bin Laden FTW"? And if Bin Laden truly was a creature of the CIA, then...?

Obama's situation is same as that in Japan or EU or in India. any nation who has so much debt that their only solution is to create more debt and sometimes war (in the case of USA) in order to limp ahead....means that no matter who is in charge (Obama or not), the situation will keep getting worse just because of one reason: BECAUSE THERE IS NO MONEY.

There is no money for building infra, creating jobs, new healthcare, new schools, support world 'democracy', give aid to other nations, behave like a global police force, fight the Swiss Govt etc.

Once the money is finished, then no matter what, the situation keeps spinning out of control. (Rather play golf instead :) )

We all love to make fun of Obama, but the quesiton is: If any of us, would be in place of Obama, as POTUS, what would we do, if there would be the same constraints - being no money - then how would we manage the global capitalism crisis that America started and is going through?

How would we handle Saudi, China, Russia, Iran, Snowden, Iraq and Afghan wars, drone killings in Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan and Afghanistan, banking crisis, terror attacks in Libya or elsewhere, housing crisis, food stamp crisis, immigration crisis and health care crisis, NASA slowdown etc when we would have the constraint of having no more money?

As an example of the huge problem we are facing. A guy posted a video once that said in Palestine there used do be 500,000 people living in Palestine in 1900, between the Jewis and Palis there must now be about 15 million people. That is freaking insane number of mouths to feed. Last time I checked it the petri dish I mean Earth has not gotten several times bigger in size.

Same thing around the world. Does anyone expect this will end well, why do you think all the hollow points ordered by the govt. What is that saying, I see dead people.

You could walk into any bar on the Copacabana, throw a steak and hit someone who could do a better job of playing at president than the current Manchurian Candidate Oval Office Occupant. Paraphrasing Barry Glendenny.

However literally unintended, Max, the statment's stands correct. Managing orchestrated chaos is what US foreign policy is all about.

'..the Obama administration finds itself in the middle of a second term reacting to rather than directing world events. Dangers for the president and for the U.S. are growing as militant groups gain greater control. The organization known as the Islamic State, which now holds parts of Iraq and Syria, poses a particular danger.'

ISIS, like its preceding phantom organ, a CIA construct trained in Jordan. Playing 'enemies' off 'enemies' merely seems chaotic when that's the promoted narrative, as above.

Disclaimer: Not saying AT ALL, that it's what I want, but reality's a bitch.

P.S. I live in America too. No plans or intentions of going "Simon Black" on any of you. Fact is, as long as we've got the guns, we've got numerical superiority. They can't kill us all, or lock all of us up.

Great. But that calls for organization. And 'they' are listening into every conversation in whatever form. Right now some drone is checking out your IP address. This will go on as long as they can provide the bread and circuses. Only then will the middle class unass themselves from the lobotomy tube and actually do something.

While I am no fan of Obama I'm also no fan of the far Right's need to police the world. Honestly can't believe ZH posted something so partisan.. thoght this was an equal opportunity political bashing site? As far as I can see, this article flies in the Face of Ron Paul and instead of minding our own knitting and letting the world figure out their own issues, it embraces the U.S. as Global Cop. I'm glad this is the worst McCain has seen in all his years but not our job to enforce the laws of foreign governments or territorial disputes. We need to wake up.

This site has grown increasingly partisan for the last year+. I think it's been co-opted, unfortunately. Divide and conquer... keep people in one camp or another... doesn't matter which camp, but we can't have them outside the system. The site was acquired, yes? Keep enough of it the same, but gradually nudge people back into the fold.

You're going to quote John McCain? The fonz is on water skis and is fast approaching the ramp.

You don't get it. Until further notice, there is no "we" that can be identified with US foreign policy. Hence you cannot root for, or bemoan the recent set backs for "our" team. George Carlin - Its a big club and you ain't in it.

Yeah riiiight, a clown like him in charge of US foreign policy would really be the panacea to all of the Middle East's problems...NOT!

The biggest problem in the Middle East is simple: too many interventions and wars from warmongering Republicans, alternated by a naive Democratic 'laissez-faire' policy of looking away and appeasement which sow the seeds for the next Islamic extremists or nationalistic uprising.

If you give opp-or-tun-ist bimbo bitch any credit for anything, you have dog shit for brains. The bitch could not even finish her term as gov. because she is a self-serving cunt. I guess Obama should be working 27 hrs. a day and not even takeing restroom breaks! Your a simpleton looking for simple explanations for complex problems. I'm sure that everything u have learned about Inter'nal global politics was at some redneck bar! Go climb back in your hole you stupid idiot.

I keep thinking back to the night of his re-election, when he was crying. They didn't seem like tears of joy; they seemed like the kind of tear you'd cry if you won the right to euthanize your puppy. He and his masters can burn for what they're doing.

Not to worry, American domestic policy is also in a shambles to match foreign policy:

The CIA spying scandal and the disintegration of American democracy

14 July 2014

Last Thursday, the US Department of Justice quietly announced that it would not launch a criminal investigation following the revelation in March that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had spied on the staff of the Senate Intelligence Committee. News of this decision—which concerns one of the most significant constitutional breaches in modern American history—was barely reported in the establishment media and prompted no significant response from any section of the political establishment.

The Obama administration’s decision and the acquiescence of the rest of Washington underscore the reality, behind the trappings of democracy, of de facto rule by an unelected and authoritarian military-intelligence apparatus. The military and intelligence agencies that preside over a vast global enterprise of violence and deceit operate in secret without any accountability or restraint, no matter which party controls Congress and the White House.

Obama himself—whose first job after graduating from college was as an analyst at Business International Corporation, an institution with well-documented CIA connections—functions in practice as a front man for the military and intelligence bureaucracy. Just last week he responded to the crisis in US-German relations triggered by the revelation that the CIA had recruited operatives to spy on the German Secret Service by declaring he had no knowledge of the CIA operation, raising the question of who runs the country. (See: Obama and the CIA—who runs Washington? )

Obama elevated John Brennan, who presided over the illegal spying on Congress, to head the CIA. As a high-level CIA official in the Bush administration, Brennan had defended the use of “enhanced interrogation techniques” (i.e., torture) against people accused of being terrorists.

Obama himself, from the moment he took office, worked to shield Bush-era criminals from investigation or prosecution.

The CIA’s spying on Congress is a flagrant violation of the US Constitution’s bedrock principle of separation of powers. As American high school students were once taught in civics classes, the basic theory of American constitutional government is that tyranny can be prevented only by dividing state power among three independent branches—the legislature, executive, and judiciary—each with its own limited powers regulated by a system of checks and balances.

The CIA spying scandal is particularly striking because the CIA’s target is not just any congressional committee—but the very Senate committee charged with oversight of the CIA.

Cloward Piven, orchestrated by the NWO and overseen by Holder and the usurper Obama. Infiltrate the office of the US with a foreigner, so that the "law" is only by decree-- the wet dream of the NWO. For those idiots that don't think Obama is any different than other puppets as POTUS, think again (or think at all)--- When there is no legal executor of the law then the law no longer exists--- as in full banana republic

No republican president would have gotten away with the IRS scandal if Democrat groups had been unfairly targeted, hard drives of those being investigated crashed, and the president claimed there was not a smidgeon of corruption and refused to appoint a special prosecutor.

He's out in a year and a half.......by the time SHTF for all of this stuff coming to a head, he'll he waving on the way out, on his way to get paid 250k+ for a speech in front of some rich people. Why should he give a fuck?

No amount of money in appearance fees makes up for the fact that your kids have to live their lives out in the knowledge that the world and his grandmother think their father is a cunt. And that their mother is a wookie, but that's another story...

It is okay. The Feds are letting the USD dump today and selling paper gold and silver to try and pretty up their failure. It is a good day for stackers. We shall see if it can last as long as Platinum and Palladium do not participate. Usually the answer is no.

"Of course, with John Kerry in charge of policy, is anyone surprised? Still, he does report to Obama, and one would assume that despite the president "knowing nothing" about any of the domestic scandals he has faced in the past year, he can find the world on a map..."

Since we've become a banana republic, can I have mine split, with nuts (plenty of them in DC), hot fudge (thanks, Reggie!) and a cherry (that's even too gross for me to think about) on top?

We are all screwed in the end. Today I will attend to my small, but flourishing garden, watch my goldfish swim (I heartily recommend goldfish ponds, booze and your choice of smokes for stress relief) and try not to think about what a mess this country (world) has become.

<RANT>

Many thanks to the Tylers here at ZH and their crack ADVERTISING CREW, who make this site impossible to read regularly, due to an OVERABUNDANCE OF ADS - ESPECIALLY THE VIDEO ADS (What the fuck is that "Club Career" video about anyhow? I've stopped that fucker so often I'm sick of looking at it).

Keep it up, mercenary masters of ZH - which used to be a great blog - for fucking it up with the self-loading video ads which freeze and/or crash browsers or make scrolling nearly impossible.

I HAVE HAD MORE BROWSER CRASHES FROM ZERO HEDGE THAN FROM ALL OTHER SITES ON THE INTERNET COMBINED.

I'll be doing my part to help the corporate masters of ZH to self-destruct by visiting the sites from which they regularly poach, anyhow, like Paul Craig Roberts, David Stockman, Liberty Blitzkrieg and Counterpunch.

KEEP RUNNING THE STUPID SELF-LOADING VIDEO ADS, DUNCES. THEY'LL DO THE JOB OF DESTROYING THIS SITE FAR BETTER THAN ANY NSA OPERATION.

Yeah like McCain has nothing to do with the situation in the world right now. Remember his visits to Syria and Ukraine? And Obama? He said in Cairo that he wanted new relations with the islamic world. Well, he got that for sure.

I dont see how the US can have an effective foreign policy and have an effective domestic policy. They seem to be doing both half baked rather than putting all there efforts in one.

Alot of this foreign policy hasnt come into play while Obama has been in charge, many of it, is baggage from Bush and beyond. It was only a matter of time before the suppressors became the oppressors and this is where we are starting to see the paradigm shift.

In my opinion the US needs to stop being the worlds police and focus on preserving what they have before a mass civil unrest breaks out, which at this rate is inevitable.

I am sure most Americans would prefer the fix of the domestic issues rather than the fix of foreign issues. How Obama can ask 500 million for Syria and yet Detroit citizens cannot manage to get any water is mind boggling.

The US is simply put, overstretched, too much war, too much corruption and too much debt, all 3 will be the fall of the great empire.

very nixon-esque picture....too bad it's not a resignation. but actually, that's neither here nor there. i place much higher blame on the flaccid old farts in congress who's minds are so crippled with the insanity of political correctness they haven't the huevos to either sue or impeach the bastard

and the usual petty squables and instability throughout the rest of the world.

So please stop with this nonsense. Obama may be a dolt but this "worst since..." stuff is utter BS and neo-con BS at that. Just remember how much of the debt and corporate welfare is the result of people like McPain.

Really? I'd be interested in seeing that "twice as long" list. Perhaps in an age of 24/7 partisan driven news where virtually anything can be made into a "crisis" you can get it. The reality is that the world as a whole is a lot more peaceful/stable now than the average of the past 50 years.

Crisis is the way the NWO rolls. Create the crisis in order to "solve" it. "Never let a good crisis go to waste'. Obama and his henchmen fellow pupprts told you what they were going to do, and are doing it. "Dreams From My Father"--- he was telling you idiots he is not eligible because of his British subject father (as in not an eligible natural born Citizen). They love to tell you what is going to happen so they can laugh at the idiocy of us letting it happen. They are satanists after all.

this assclown has committed at least 25 impeachable offenses including TREASON for aiding and abetting enemy terrorists (isis and al queda) during a "war" on terrorism

btw when is KSM going to be executed?

when is the marine in mex going to be realeased

when is Bergdhal going to be court marshalled

when is the fort hood turd going to be executed

remember he said when push came to shove HE WOULD STAND WITH IS MUSLIM BROTHERS..... well you are witnessing the violation of LAW and him doing EXACTLY what he said he would do.... and unless Congress and the Judiciary act he WINS.... and why because he is a mulatto.... hey THAT'S RACISM

more right versus left bs. the republicans would be at war with iran right now, and the ukraine. and there are dumbasses who would argue the outcome would be different with a liberal in office. all of them are a bunch of psychopathic killers for the love of money and empire. every country has been infested with them since the beginning of time. all of them self destruct in an orgey of self interest only to rise out of the ashes again. it is the usa's turn to pillage and plunder the world. USA!USA!USA!

We put ourselves in a bad stop in Europe. In reality America has few military options in Russia's backyard unless it has the backing of a full and enthusiastic NATO and that is very unlikely. Europe has reason to be unexcited about a possible long and expensive conflict.

While still trying to recover from a recession Europe would face fuel shortages and a massive spike in the price of natural gas. Currently Russia supplies much of the gas used in Europe, this gives Putin a great deal of leverage. If an actual ground attack were to occur few see the Russians as likely to rollover as other armies have when America approaches. More on this subject in the article below.